THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 131 



length, and nearly two and a half in breadth, of a greyish 

 or dirty white colour, mottled nearly all over with markings 

 of pale brownish-red. 



Incubation lasts about a month, and when the young 

 birds make their appearance they are covered with a soft 

 greyish down. At this period the parents are even fiercer 

 and more destructive than at other times, feeding their 

 offspring in a most liberal and unsparing manner, and 

 levying contributions on the live stock generally that may 

 happen to be within the vicinity. 



The food consists of grouse, hares, rabbits, poultry, 

 young lambs, and indeed, anything and everything living 

 that can be carried off. The courage and audacity of the 

 Golden Eagle have long since become proverbial, and num- 

 berless instances are recorded in which this bird has at- 

 tacked sheep, goats, deer, and animals of similar size. It 

 seldom feeds upon fish, and probably not at all upon any- 

 thing it may find dead. 



The flight is at once easy and powerful, and the motion 

 of the bird as it sweeps along through the air is truly 

 majestic and dignified. Its note consists of two syllables, 

 which may be described as a couple of short sharp shrieks 

 rapidly repeated. When perched, the Golden Eagle has a 

 bold, defiant attitude, the eyes being fierce and penetrating. 

 It never loses the fierce, intractable character of its dis- 

 position, and persons who have kept these birds through 

 lengthened periods of captivity state that they lose but 

 little of their native ferocity, and exhibit in only a very 

 slight degree any preference for or familiarity with their at- 

 tendants. The ago attained by the Golden Eagle is a matter 

 of some little doubt, some writers affirming that they live 

 occasionally to be a hundred years old ; there can, however, 



